Method and system for accessing web pages based on playback of recordings

ABSTRACT

Entertainment content complementary to a musical recording is delivered to a user&#39;s computer by means of a computer network link. The user employs a browser to access the computer network. A plug-in for the browser is able to control an audio CD or other device for playing the musical recording. A script stored on the remote computer accessed over the network is downloaded. The script synchronizes the delivery of the complementary entertainment content with the play of the musical recording.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/354,166,filed Jul. 16, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,192 which is a divisional ofU.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/838,082 filed Apr. 15, 1997 nowU.S. Pat. No. 5,987,525 and 09/060,876 filed Apr. 15, 1998 now U.S. Pat.No. 6,154,773 all three hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention pertains to the field of computer networking, and moreparticularly to the use of network protocols to provide services tousers which are related to audio recordings.

2. Related Art

Over the past few years, on-line services have experienced explosivegrowth and have become a major new form of entertainment. Alongside thisnew entertainment, more traditional forms such as musical recordingshave continued to be consumed on a massive scale.

The traditional experience of the musical recording is listening by asmall group of persons gathered together in a room. The music fills theroom acoustically, but there is little associated visual content, andthere is only a limited interaction with the recording, consistingessentially of deciding which tracks to play and performing simpletransformations on the recorded sound, such as setting the volume orapplying an audio equalizer. This traditional experience dates back tothe early age of 78 r.p.m. musical recordings almost a century ago.

The traditional production of a musical recording complements thetraditional experience of the recording. The recording is produced in anumber of recording sessions, subject to careful mixing and editing, andthen released to the public. At that point, the recording is in a fixedform, nowadays an audio CD, whose purpose is to record as faithfully aspossible the final sonic experience designed by its authors, themusicians, producer, and recording engineers.

Music videos have supplemented the traditional experience of musicalrecordings by allowing the association of visual content with tracks ofsuch a recording. In practice, however, music videos have beenbroadcast, with all the problems of lack of user control which thatimplies, and they have not contributed to interactivity or participationby the consumer.

On-line services offer opportunities for enriching the experienceassociated with musical recordings. The present invention is addressedto computer programs, systems, and protocols which can fulfil thispromise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide computerprograms, systems, and protocols which allow producers to deliverentertainment complementary to musical recordings by means of on-lineservices such as the Internet. It is a further object of this inventionto provide computer programs, systems, and protocols which allow suchcomplementary entertainment to be meaningfully interactive for theconsumer, such that the consumer can also be a creator of theexperience.

It is a further object of the invention to achieve the foregoing objectsby means of implementations designed to attain integration with existingenvironments and programs, particularly on the Internet, while retainingthe flexibility to adapt to the continuing evolution of standards foron-line services.

In one aspect of the invention, software is provided which permits acomputer program running on a remote host to control a compact disk (CD)player, DVD player, or the like on a user's computer. (For convenience,we use the term “CD player” to refer also to DVD players and similardevices.) The software is designed to permit the remote host both toinitiate actions on the CD player and to become aware actions which theuser has initiated by other control means, such as the buttons on the CDplayer's front panel or a different CD player control program. Thisaspect of the invention is a building-block for the provision ofcomplementary entertainment for musical recordings when those recordingsare fixed in the prevailing contemporary form, the audio CD.

In a second aspect of the invention, visual content, includinginteractive content, may be delivered over an on-line service in such away that it is synchronized to the delivery of content from a musicalrecording. Such visual content may, for example, be synchronized to theplaying of an audio CD in the user's computer. The visual content isthematically linked to the musical recording, for example in the mannerof a music video.

In a third aspect of the invention, a method is provided for assigning aunique identifier to musical recordings consisting of a number oftracks. A unique identifier is a useful complement to the delivery ofvisual content in conjunction with the playing of an audio CD in that itallows the software which delivers the visual content to be sure thatthe audio CD is in fact the correct CD to which the visual contentcorresponds. If the visual content is designed, for example, toaccompany the Rosary Sonatas of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, it wouldpresumably not function well if the CD in the user's player were thesoundtrack for the film Mary Poppins. The unique identifier also allowsa CD to be used as a key to access a premium Web area. Furthermore, theunique identifier can allow the user to be directed to an area of theWeb corresponding to the CD which is in the user's machine.

In a fourth aspect of the invention, the immensely popular on-lineservice generally referred to as a “chat room” may be enhanced by meansof a link to a musical recording to which all persons in the room arelistening. The chat room experience as it exists today in on-lineservices has a disembodied quality by comparison with traditionalface-to-face social encounters, in which there are identifiablesurroundings. The only common experience to the chat users today are thewords of the chat as they fly by on a computer screen, and perhaps theuser icons (“avatars”) or other visual content occupying a small spaceon the screen. The use of a musical recording in conjunction with a chatroom opens up the possibility of restoring to the experience a degree ofthe shared ambience of traditional social encounters. Furthermore, themusical recording offers a focal point that allows chat-seekers to grouptogether by means of shared interests in a particular type of recording.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the environment in which the preferredembodiment operates.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the synchronization code of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the sequence of operations for connection to achat room focused on a musical recording.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

1. Introduction

The preferred embodiment of this invention operates on the World WideWeb. The software implementation environment provided by the World WideWeb is described in a number of books, for example, John December & MarkGinsburg, HTML 3.2 and CGI Unleashed (1996). The World Wide Web is basedon a network protocol called HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol), whichis described in T. Berners-Lee et al., Hypertext TransferProtocol—HYTP/1.0 (Internet Request for Comments No. 1945, 1996). TheHTTP protocol must be run atop a general connection-oriented protocol,which today is generally TCP/IP, described in Douglas E. Comer,Internetworking with TCP/IP (3d ed. 1995). However, the inventiondescribed here is not limited to HTTP running over any particular kindof network software or hardware. The principles of the invention applyto other protocols for access to remote information that may come tocompete with or supplant HTTP.

As shown in FIG. 1, a Web user sits at his or her computer and runs acomputer program called a browser. The browser sends out HTTP requeststo other computers, referred to as servers. In requests, particularitems of data, referred to as resources, which are available on servers,are referred to by means of uniform resource locators (URL's), characterstrings in a particular format defined in Berners-Lee et al., supra. AURL includes both an identification of the server and an identificationof a particular item of data within the server. Reacting to therequests, the servers return responses to the user's browser, and thebrowser acts upon those responses, generally by displaying some sort ofcontent to the user.

The content portion of the responses can be a “Web page,” expressed inthe hypertext markup language (HTML). That language allows one toexpress content consisting of text interspersed with bitmap-formatimages and links (also known as anchors and hyperlinks). The links arefurther URL's to which the browser may, at the user's prompting, sendfurther requests.

The responses can also include more complex commands to be interpretedby the browser, e.g., commands which result in an animation. HTML itselfdoes not define complex commands, but rather they are considered tobelong to separately-defined scripting languages, of which the two mostcommon ones are JavaScript and VBScript.

In addition to extending the function of the browser by means of codewritten in a scripting language, it is also possible to extend thefunction of a browser with compiled code. Such compiled code is referredto as a “plug-in.” The precise protocol for writing a plug-in isdependent on the particular browser. Plug-ins for the Microsoft browserare referred to by the name of ActiveX controls.

Plug-ins may be very complex. A plug-in which may advantageously be usedin connection with the invention is Shockwave from Macromedia. Itpermits animations which are part of a server response to be downloadedand played to the user. Shockwave defines its own scripting languagecalled Lingo. Lingo scripts are contained within the downloadableanimations which the Shockwave plug-in can play. The general format of aShockwave animation is a timeline consisting of a series of frames,together with a number of visual objects which appear, perform motions,and disappear at particular frames within the timeline. To achieve morecomplex effects within a Shockwave animation, Lingo scripts may beinvoked in addition to predefined visual objects.

2. Command Plug-in

A preferred embodiment of the invention employs a plug-in, referred toas the command plug-in, which provides to a scripting language theability to command in a detailed fashion the playing of a musicalrecording. The command plug-in should provide, at a minimum, thefollowing basic functions:

-   -   (1) Start and stop play.    -   (2) Get current track and position within the track.    -   (3) Seek to a track and a position within the track.    -   (4) Get and set volume.    -   (5) Get information regarding the CD (e.g., the number of        tracks, their lengths, the pauses between tracks).    -   (6) Get information regarding the capabilities of the CD drive.        Other functions may be provided, limited only by what the        underlying operating system services are able to provide.

The command plug-in is preferably written in a conventional programminglanguage such as C++. The plug in must conform to the existing standardsfor plug-ins, such as those required of Microsoft ActiveX objects. Inorder to obtain the information and carry out the functions which thecommand plug-in makes available to the scripting language, the commandplug-in relies on functions which provide control and informationregarding the playing musical recording. These functions will depend onthe precise source of the recording. If, as in the currently preferredembodiment, the recording is being played on an audio CD in the computerCD player, and if the browser is running under Microsoft Windows 3.1 orWindows 95, these functions would be the MCI functions, which form apart of the Win32 application programming interface. These functions aredocumented, for example, in Microsoft Win32 Programmer's Reference.Different functions may be provided by streaming audio receivers, as forexample receivers which capture audio which is coming into the user'scomputer over a network connection in a suitable audio encoding formatsuch as MPEG.

An important point to note about the implementation of the commandplug-in is that the operations which it carries out, as for exampleseeks, may take times on the order of a second. It is undesirable forthe command-plug in to retain control of the machine during thatinterval, so it is important that the plug-in relinquish control of themachine to the browser whenever a lengthy operation is undertaken, andreport on the results of the operation via the asynchronous eventhandling capability used in the common scripting languages.

Given the above summary of the functions which the command plug-inprovides, a general knowledge of how to write plug-ins (e.g., of how towrite ActiveX objects), and a knowledge of the relevant applicationprogramming interface for controlling the play of the musical recording(e.g., MCI in Win32), a person skilled in the art could readily andwithout undue experimentation develop an actual working command plug-in.For this reason, further details of how the command plug-in isimplemented are not provided here.

3. Synchronization

The existence of a command plug-in providing the functions listed aboveto a scripting language is a foundation on which entertainmentcomplementary to a musical recording may be constructed. In particular,it is possible to devise, building on this foundation, a method forsynchronizing the display of visual content by means of the scriptinglanguage with the events which are occurring on the audio CD.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the synchronization of thevisual content to the audio CD proceeds as follows. The visual contentis provided by means of a Shockwave animation, which is downloaded fromthe server and displayed for the user by means of a Shockwave plug-in.This downloading may take place before the animation is displayed, oralternatively it make take place as the animation is being displayed,provided the user's connection to the network is fast enough to supportdownload at an appropriate speed. The downloading is a function providedby the Shockwave plug-in itself.

As the Shockwave animation is played, a Lingo script executes each timea frame finishes displaying. The Lingo script contains a description ofthe relationship which should exist between frames of the animation andsegments of the musical recording, identified by track number and bytime. The Lingo script determines, by means of the command plug-indescribed above, at which track and time the play of the audio CD is. Itthen refers to the description in order to determine which frames of theanimation correspond to that portion of the audio CD. If the currentframe is not one of those frames, the Lingo script resets the time lineof the animation so that the animation will begin to play at the framewhich corresponds to the current position of the audio CD. This permitsthe visual content to catch up if it ever lags the CD, for examplebecause downloading from the network has fallen behind, because theuser's computer lacks the cycles to play the animation at full speed, orbecause the user has fast forwarded the CD.

In a variant form of this synchronization algorithm (shown in FIG. 2),the frames of the animation are arranged into groups of contiguousframes. A correspondence is established between each such group offrames and a particular segment of the audio recording (box 200 in FIG.2). At the end of each frame of the animation, the audio play positionis determined (box 210). A test is done to determine whether the audioplay position is within the segment of the recording that corresponds tothe group of frames to which the next sequential frame belongs (box215). If the audio play position is within that segment, the playback ofthe animation proceeds with that next frame (box 230). If the audio playposition is not within that segment, then the playback of the animationis advanced to the frame corresponding to where the audio is (boxes 220and 225).

4. Unique Identifiers for Audio CDs

A further aspect of the invention is the ability, by making use of thecommand plug-in, to provide a technique for establishing a uniqueidentifier for an audio CD which is located in the user's CD player. Theunique identifier may be based on the number and lengths of the tracks(measured in blocks, i.e., 1/75ths of a second), so that the identifierwould be a concatenation of these lengths. In practice, however, it isdesirable to have a somewhat shorter identifier, so the uniqueidentifier is preferably the concatenation of the track lengthsexpressed in a fairly coarse unit, such as ¼th of a second.

Appendix A contains source code, written in C, for a fuzzy comparisonalgorithm suitable for determining whether two audio CDs are exactly orapproximately the same. The fuzzy comparison algorithm proceeds asfollows. For each of the two audio CDs to be compared, one determinesthe lengths of all the tracks in the recordings in milliseconds. Onethen shifts all track lengths to the right by eight bits, in effectperforming a truncating division by 2⁸=256. One then goes through bothof the recordings track by track, accumulating as one proceeds twonumbers, the match total and the match error. These numbers are bothinitialized to zero at the start of the comparison. For each of thetracks, one increments the match total by the shifted length of thattrack in the first CD to be compared, and one increments the match errorby the absolute value of the difference between the shifted lengths ofthe track in the two CDs. When one gets to the last track in the CD withthe fewer number of tracks, one continues with the tracks in the otherCD, incrementing both the match total and the match error by the shiftedlengths of those tracks. Following these steps of going through thetracks, the algorithm then divides the match error by the match number,subtracts the resulting quotient from 1, and converts the difference toa percentage which is indicative of how well the two CDs match.

Appendix B contains source code, written in C, for a comparisonalgorithm suitable for determining whether two audio CDs are exactly thesame. The algorithm generates from the number of tracks, the tracklengths, and the start and end times of the tracks an 8-byte value. Thehigh order 4 bytes are obtained by summing the start and end times ofall tracks, expressed in milliseconds. The low order 4 bytes areobtained by summing the lengths of all tracks expressed in milliseconds,shifting the sum left ten bits, and adding the number of tracks.

A unique identifier for a musical recording may be employed as adatabase key. A site may maintain a database of information about CDs,for example information about all CDs issued by the particular recordcompany can be maintained on that record company's site. There arevarious alternative ways for users to navigate this information. Forexample, they could use a Web page containing many hyperlinks as a tableof contents, or they could use a conventional search engine. A third wayof searching which is enabled by the unique identifier of the inventionis for there to be Web page which invites the user to place in thecomputer's CD drive the CD about which he or she is seeldng information.Upon detection of the presence of the CD in the drive, a script in theWeb page computes the unique identifier corresponding to the CD andsends it to the server. The server then displays information about theCD retrieved from a database on the basis of that unique identifier.This information may include a Web address (URL) that is related to theaudio CD (e.g., that of the artists' home page), simple data such as thenames of the songs, and also complementary entertainment, includingpotentially photographs (e.g., of the band), artwork, animations, andvideo clips. It is also possible to arrange things so that, when theuser inserts an audio CD into the computer, (i) the Web browser islaunched if not already running, (ii) the browser computes the CD'sunique identifier and from that unique identifier derives a URL, and(iii) the browser does an HTTP get transaction on that URL.

An alternative application of unique identifiers for musical recordingsis to employ an audio CD as a key for entering into a premium area ofthe Web. There are presently premium areas of the Web to which peopleare admitted by subscription. A simple form of admission based on theunique identifier is to require, before accessing a particular area ofthe Web, that the user place in his or her CD drive a particular CD, ora CD published by a particular company or containing the music of aparticular band or artist. This is readily accomplished by means of ascript which invokes the functions provided by the command plug-in andcomputes a unique identifier.

5. Chat Rooms Connected with Musical Recordings

A third aspect of the invention is the connection of chat rooms withmusical recordings. The goal is to provide all participants in a chatroom with the same music at approximately the same time.

The prevailing network protocol for chat services is Interney Relay Chat(IRC), described J. Oikarinen & D. Reed, Internet Relay Chat Protocol(Internet Request for Comments No. 1459, 1993). In this protocol, whenone becomes a client of a chat server, one sends the name of a chatroom. The chat server receives messages from all of its of clients andrelays the messages sent in by one client to all the other clientsconnected in the same room as that client. The messages which a clientsends are typically typed in by the user who is running the client, andthe messages which a client receives are typically displayed for theuser who is running the client to read.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a chat client is customizedby means of a plug-in, which we will call the chat plug-in. The chatclient is started up by a browser as follows (see FIG. 3). The userconnects by means of the browser to a central Web page (box 300) which,upon being downloaded, asks that the user insert a CD into his or herplayer (box 305). A unique identifier of the CD is computed andcommunicated back to the server by using the control plug-in describedabove under the command of a script in the central Web page (box 310).The server then employs the unique identifier to determine whether ithas a chat room focused on the CD (box 315). This step may be carriedout by looking the unique identifier up in a database using techniqueswell known in the art. There exists a vast literature on connecting Webpages to databases, e.g., December & Ginsburg, supra, chapter 21. If achat room focused on the CD exists or can be created, the serverresponds with the name of that chat room, and the browser starts up achat client on the user's computer as a client of that chat room (box320).

The chat room's name is set by the server to contain information aboutthe track which the CD is playing in the other chat room clients'machines and the time at which the track started to play, as well asabout the volume at which the CD is playing. The chat client plug-inemploys that information to direct the control plug-in to set the CD inthe user's computer to play in such a manner that it is approximatelysynchronized to the CD which is playing in the other chat room clients'machines (box 320).

Each user in the chat room is able to control the CD which is playing inhis or her machine. Control actions result in the chat plug-in sendingmessages to the chat server which describe the control action beingtaken (box 325). For example, such messages may indicate a change in theposition of the CD, a change in the volume, or the ejection of the CD toreplace it with another. The chat plug-ins running on the other users'machines, upon seeing a message of this kind, replicate the action (asfar as possible) on the other users' machines by using the controlplug-in described above (box 330).

In a further aspect of the invention, a chat room focused on aparticular musical recording might allow for a voting procedure toselect particular tracks. A simple voting procedure would be for eachchat plug-in to act upon a change message of the kind described in thepreceding paragraph only when it sees two identical consecutive changemessages. This would mean that in order to change the track which isbeing played, it would be necessary for two users to change to thattrack. The number two may be replaced by a higher number.

In a further aspect of the invention the messages delivered to the usersof a chat can be driven from a text file rather than manual typing. Thiswould allow a prerecorded experience to be played back for a group ofchat users. Such a technique may be used to create a pre-recorded,narrated tour of an audio CD.

An important advantage of the preferred embodiment as described above isthat it may be used with any chat server software which supports theminimal functionality required by Internet Relay Chat or by a protocolproviding similar minimum chat service. The additional software requiredis located in the chat client plug-n and in the central Web page, withits connection to a database of CD information.

APPENDIX A

/*

*FUZZY CD ID

*(c) 1996 ION

*

*

*by Ty Roberts

*/

#include <stdio.h>

#include <stdlib.h>

#include <time.h>

struct fuzzy CDid{

-   -   short num Tracks; // start time in milliseconds

unsigned short fuzzlength[100];

};

typedef struct fuzzyCDid fuzzyCDid, *fuzzy CDidPtr;

//structure of a cd track with all times stored in milliseconds

struck cdtrack {

-   -   long beginsMs; //start time in milliseconds    -   long endMs; //end time in milliseconds

long lengthMs; //length in milliseconds

};

typedef struct cdtrack cdtrac, *cdTrackPtr;

struct cd {

-   -   short numTracks;    -   cdtrack track[100];

};

typedef struct cd cd, *cdPtr;

void CreateFuzzyId (fuzzy CdidPtr fid, cdPtr cd);

float Fuzzy Match (fuzzyCdiPtr fid1, fuzzyCdidPtr fid2);

//SUBROUTINES

void CreateFuzzyId (fuzzy CDidPtr fid, cdPtr cd)

{

-   -   long i;    -   // first copy in the number of tracks    -   fid->numTracks=cd->numTracks;    -   for(i=0;i<fid->numTracks;i++) {        -   // shift left and create a MSB length thats not exact        -   fid->fuzzlength[i]=(short)/(cd->track[i].lengthMs>>8);    -   }

}

float Fuzzy Match (fuzzyCDidPtr fid1, fuzzyCDidPtr fid2)

{

-   -   long fidmatcher=0, fidmatchtotal=0;    -   short i, trackent;    -   float matchpercent;    -   //find the larger number of tracks        -   trackent=fid1->numTracks<fid2->numTracks?fid2->numTracks:

fid1->numTracks;

-   -   -   // cycle thru the tracks accumulating error and total            comparedtimes        -   for(i=0;i<trackent;i++){            -   if (i<fid-1>numTracks) && (i<fid2->numTracks))                {fidmatcherr+=abs(fid1−>fuzzlength[i]−fid2−×fuzzlength[i]);                findmatchtotal+=fid1−>fuzzlength[i];            -   } else if (i>=fid2−>num Tracks)                {fidmatcherr+=fid1−>fuzzlength[i];                fidmatchtotal+=fid1−>fuzzlength[i];            -   } else if (i>=fid1−>numTracks)                {fidmatcherr+=fid2−>fuzzlength[i];                fidmatchtotal+fid2−>fuzzlength[i];            -   }        -   {        -   if (fidmatcherr<0) {            -   matchpercent=100−(((float)fidmatcherr/(float)fidmatchtotal)*100);        -   } else {            -   matchpercent=100;        -   {        -   return matchpecent;            {

void main(void)

{

-   -   short i;    -   float matchpercent;    -   //create global structures for two complete cds with up to 100        tracks    -   cd cd2id;    -   fuzzyCdid fidcd2id;    -   cd cdFromDB;    -   fuzzyCdid fidedFromDB;    -   print (“Test #1 will compare two CDs that are exactly the        same\n\”);    -   //put in some test values for the cd track lengths        -   //since these areas are in ms, its basically 6000=1 minute        -   cd2id.track[0].lengthMs=121323;        -   cd2id.track[1].lengthMs=234565;        -   cd2id.track[2].lengthMs=566437;        -   cd2id.track[3]lengthMs=235120;        -   cd2id.track[4].lengthMs=20000;        -   cd2id.track[5].lengthMs=120386;        -   cd2id.numTracks=7;        -   for(=1;i<cd2id.numTracks;i++) {            -   printf (“CD #1: Track=%d length in minutes=%f\n”,                -   i, (float)cd2id.track[i].lengthMs/60000.0);        -   }        -   printf(“\n”);        -   cdFromDB.track[0].lengthMs=121323;        -   cdFromDB.track[1].lengthMs=234565;        -   cdFromDB.track[2].lengthMs=566437;        -   cdFromDB.track[3].lengthMs=245120;        -   cdFromDB.track[4].lengthMs=20000;        -   cdFromDb.track[5].lengthMs=120386;        -   cdFromDB.track[6].lengthMs=323453;        -   cdFromDB.numTracks=7;        -   for(i=1;i<cdFromDB.numTracks;i++) {            -   printf (“CD #2: Track=% d length in minutes=%f\n”,                -   i, (float)cdFromDB.track[i].lengthMS/60000.0);

}

CreateFuzzyId( &fidcd2id, &cd2id );

CreateFuzzyld( &fidcdFromDB, &cdFromDB );

matchpercent =FuzzyMatch( &fidcd2id, &fidcdFromDB);

printf (“The cd's matchpercent was computed as=%f”, matchpercent);

printf (“\n”);

printf (“\n”);

printf (“Test #2 will compare two cd that are nearly the same\nexceptthey have diffent # of tracks \n”);

// put in some test values for the cd track lengths

// since these are in ms, its basically 60000=1 minute

cd2id.track[0].lengthMs=121323;

cd2id.track[1].lengthMs=234565;

cd2id.track[2].lengthMs=566437;

cd2id.track[3].lengthMs=245120;

cd2id.track[4].lengthMs=20000;

cd2id.track[5].lengthMs=120386;

cd2id.track[6].lengthMs=323453;

cd2id.numTracks=7;

for(i=1;i<cd2id.numTracks;i++) {

-   -   printf (“CD #1: Track=%d length in minutes=%f\n”,        -   i, (float)cd2id.track[i].lengthMs/60000.0);

}

printf (“\n”);

cdFromDB.track[0].lengthMs=121323;

cdFromDB.track[1].lengthMs=234565;

cdFromDB.track[2].lengthMs=566437;

cdFromDB.track[3].lengthMs=245120;

cdFromDB.track[4].lengthMs=20000;

cdFromDB.track[5].lengthMs=120386;

cdFromDB.numTracks=6;

for(i=1;i<cdFromDB.numTracks;i++) {

-   -   -   printf (“CD #2: Track=%d length in minutes =%f\n”,            -   i, (float)cdFromDB.track[i].lengthMs/60000.0);

}

CreateFuzzyld( &fidcd2id, &cd2id );

CreateFuzzyld( &fidcdFromDB, &cdFromDB );

matchpercent=FuzzyMatch( &fidcd2id, &fidcdFromDB);

printf (“The cd's matchpercent was computed as=%f”,matchpercent);

printf (“\n”);

printf (“\n”);

printf (“Test #3 will compare two cd that are not the same\n\n”);

// put in some test. values for the cd track lengths

// since these are in ms, its basically 60000=1 minute

cd2id.track[0].lengthMs=34213;

cd2id.track[1].lengthMs=334565;

cd2id.track[2].IengthMs=231423;

cd2id.track[3].lengthMs=134122;

cd2id.track[4].lengthMs=2342;

cd2id.track[5].lengthMs=3487;

cd2id.track[6].lengthMs=9976;

cd2id.numTracks=7;

for(i=l;i<cd2id.numTracks;i++) {

-   -   printf (“CD #1: Track=%d length in midutes =%f\n”,        -   i, (float)cd2id.track[i].lengthMs/60000.0);

}

printf (“\n”);

cdFromDB.track[0].lengthMs=121323;

cdFromDB.track[1].lengthMs=234565;

cdFromDB.track[2].lengthMs=566437;

cdFromDB.track[3].lengthMs=245120;

cdFromDB.track[4].lengthMs=20000;

cdFromDB.track[5].lengthMs=120386;

cdFromDB.track[6].lengthMs=323453;

cdFromDB.numTracks=6;

for(i=1;i<cdFromDB.numTracks;i++) {

-   -   printf (“CD #2: Track=%d length in minutes =%f\n”,        -   i, (float)cdFromDB.track[i].lengthMs/60000.0);

}

CreateFuzzyId( &fidcd2id, &cd2id);

CreateFuzzyId( &fidcdFromDB, &cdFromDB);

matchpercent=FuzzyMatch( &fidcd2id, &fidcdFromDB);

printf (“The cd's matchpercent was computed as=%f”,matchpercent);

}

APPENDIX B

/*

-   -   -   *EXACT MATCH CD ID            * 1996 ION            *            *            * by Ty Roberts            */            #include <stdio.h>            10 #include <stdlib.h>            #include <time.h>            struct cdid{

long id[2];

}

typedef struct cdid cdid, *cdidptr;

// structure of a cd track with all times stored in milliseconds

struct cdtrack{

long beginMs; // start time in miliseconds

long endMs; // end time in milliseconds

long lengthMs; //length in Miliseconds

};

typedef struct cdtrack cdtrack, *cdTrackPtr;

struct cd {

short numTracks;

cdtrack track[100];

};

typedef struct cd cd, *cdptr;

void CreateUniqueId( cdidPtr cid, cdPtr cd );

// SUBROUTINES

void CreateUniqueld( cdidptr cid, cdPtr cd )

}

long i, t, n;

t=0;

n=0;

for(i=0;i<cd->numTracks;i++) {

-   -   // shift left and create a MSB length thats not exact

t+=cd->track[i].lengthMs;

n+=cd->track[i].beginMs+cd->track[i].endMs;

}

cid->id[0]=t<<10+cd->numTracks;

cid->id[1] =n;

}

void main(void)

{

short i;

short matchtest;

// create global structures for two complete cds with up to 100 tracks

cd cd2id;

cdid cd2UID;

cd cdFromDB;

cdid cdFromDBUID;

printf (“Test #1 will compare two cd that are exactly the same\n\n”);

// put in some test values for the cd track lengths

// since thes are in ms, its basically 60000=1 minute

cd2id.track[0].beginMs=0;

cd2id.track[1].beginMs=100001;

cd2id.track[2].beginMs =231001;

cd2id.track[3].beginMs=345001;

cd2id.track[4].beginMs=435001;

cd2id.track[5].beginMs=460001;

cd2id.track[6].beginMs=590001;

cd2id.track[0].endMs=100000;

cd2id.track[1].endMs=231000;

cd2id.track[2].endMs=345000;

cd2id.track[3].endMs=435000;

cd2id.track[4].endMs=460000;

cd2id.track[5].endMs=590000;

cd2id.track[6].endMs=690000;

cd2id. track[0].lengthMs=cd2id.track[0].endMs-cd2id.track[0].beginMs;

cd2id.track[1].lengthMs=cd2id.track[1].endMs-cd2id.track[1].beginMs;

cd2id.track[2].lengthMs=cd2id.track[2].endMs-cd2id.track[2].beginMs;

cd2id.track[3].lengthMs=cd2id.track[3].endMs-cd2id.track[3].beginMs;

cd2id.track[4].lengthMs=cd2id.track[4].endMs-cd2id.track[4].beginMs;

cd2id.track[5].lengthMs=cd2id.track[5].endMs-cd2id.track[5].beginMs;

cd2id.track[6].lengthMs=cd2id.track[6].endMs-cd2id.track[6].beginMs;

cd2id.numTracks=7;

for(i=l;i<cd2id.numTracks;i++) {

-   -   printf (“CD #1: Track=%d length inminutes=%f\n”, i,        }

(float)cd2id. track[i].lengthMs/60000.0);

printf (“\n”);

cdFromDB.track[0].beginMs=0;

cdFromDB.track[1].beginMs=100001;

cdFromDB.track[2].beginMs=231001;

cdFromDB.track[3].beginMs=345001;

cdFromDB.track[4].beginMs=435001;

cdFromDB.track[5].beginMs=460001;

cdFromDB.track[6].beginMs=590001;

cdFromDB.track[0].endMs=100000;

cdFromDB.track[1].endMs=231000;

cdFromDB.track[2].endMs=345000;

cdFromDB.track[3].endMs=435000;

cdFromDB.track[4].endMs=460000;

cdFromDB.track[5].endMs=590000;

cdFromDB.track[6].endMs=690000;

cdFromDB.track[0].lengthMs=cd2id.track[0].endMs-cd2id.track[0].beginMs;

cdFromDB.track[1].lengthMs=cd2id.track[1].endMs-cd2id.track[1].beginMs;

cdFromDB.track[2].lengthMs=cd2id.track[2].endMs-cd2id.track[2].beginMs;

cdFromDB.track[3].lengthMs=cd2id.track[3].endMs-cd2id.track[3].beginMs;

cdFromDB.track[4].lengthMs=cd2id.track[4].endMs-cd2id.track[4].beginMs;

cdFromDB.track[5].lengthMs=cd2id.track[5].endMs-cd2id.track[5].beginMs;

cdFromDB.track[6].lengthMs=cd2id.track[6].endMs-cd2id.track[6].beginMs;

cdFromDB.numTracks=7;

for(i=1;i<cdFromDB.numTracks;i++) }

-   -   printf (“CD #2: Track =%d length inminutes=%f\n”, i,        (float)cdFromDB. track[i].lengthMs/60000.0);

}

CreateUniqueId( &cd2UID, &cd2id );

printf( “Unique ID for CD #1 %d%d\n”, cd2UID.id[0], cd2UID.id[1]);

CreateUniqueld( &cdFromDBUID, &cdFromDB );

printf( “Unique ID for CD #2=%d%d\n”, cdFromDBUID.id[0],cdFromDBUID.id[1]);

matchtest=(cd2UID.id[0]==cdFromDBUID.id[0]) &&(cd2UID.id[1]==cdFromDBUID.id[1]);

printf (“The cd's match if result is non zeromatchresult=%d”,matchtest);

printf (“\n”);

printf (“\n”);

printf (“Test #2 will compare two cd that are nearly the same\nexceptthey have diffent # of tracks \n”);

// put in some test values for the cd track lengths

// since thes are in ms, its basically 60000=1 minute

cd2id.track[0].beginMs=0;

cd2id.track[1].beginMs=100001;

cd2id.track[2].beginMs=231001;

cd2id.track[3].beginMs=345001;

cd2id.track[4].beginMs=435001;

cd2id.track[5].beginMs=460001;

cd2id.track[6].beginMs=590001;

cd2id.track[0].endMs=100000;

cd2id.track[1].endMs=231000;

cd2id.track[2].endMs=345000;

cd2id.track[3].endMs=435000;

cd2id.track[4].endMs=460000;

cd2id.track[5].endMs=590000;

cd2id.track[6].endMs=690000;

cd2id.track[0].lengthMs=cd2id.track[0].endMs-cd2id.track[0].beginMs;

cd2id.track[1].lengthMs=cd2id.track[0].endMs-cd2id.track[1].beginMs;

cd2id.track[2].lengthMs=cd2id.track[2].endMs-cd2id.track[2].beginMs;

cd2id.track[3].lengthMs=cd2id.track[3].endMs-cd2id.track[3].beginMs;

cd2id.track[4].lengthMs=cd2id.track[4].endMs-cd2id.track[4].beginMs;

cd2id.track[5].lengthMs=cd2id.track[4].endMs-cd2id.track[5].beginMs;

cd2id.track[6].lengthMs=cd2id.track[6].endMs-cd2id.track[6].beginMs;

cd2id.numTracks =7;

for(i=1;i<cd2id.numTracks;i++) {

-   -   printf (“CD #1: Track=%d length inminutes=%f\n”, i,        (float)cd2id.track[i].lengthMs/60000.0);

}

printf (“\n”);

cdFromDB.track[0].beginMs=0;

cdFromDB.track[1].beginMs=100001;

cdFromDB.track[2].beginMs=231001;

cdFromDB.track[3].beginMs=345001;

cdFromDB.track[4].beginMs=435001;

cdFromDB.track[5].beginMs=460001;

cdFromDB.track[6].beginMs=590001;

cdFromDB.track[0].endMs=100000;

cdFromDB.track[1].endMs=231000;

cdFromDB.track[2].endMs=345000;

cdFromDB.track[3].endMs=435000;

cdFromDB.track[4].endMs=460000;

cdFromDB.track[5].endMs=590000;

cdFromDB.track[0].lengthMs=cd2id.track[0].endMs-cd2id.track[0].beginMs;

cdFromDB.track[1].lengthMs=cd2id.track[1].endMs-cd2id.track[1].beginMs;

cdFromDB.track[2].lengthMs=cd2id.track[2].endMs-cd2id.track[2].beginMs;

cdFromDB.track[3].lengthMs=cd2id.track[3].endMs-cd2id.track[3].beginMs;

cdFromDB.track[4].lengthMs=cd2id.track[4].endMs-cd2id.track[4].beginMs;

cdFromDB.track[5].lengthMs=cd2id.track[5].endMs-cd2id.track[5].beginMs;

cdFromDB.numTracks=6;

for(i=1;i<cdFromDB.numTracks;i++) {

-   -   printf (“CD #2: Track =%d length inminutes=%f\n”, i,        (float)cdFromDB.track[i].lengthMs/60000.0);

}

CreateUniqueld( &cd2UID, &cd2id );

printf( “Unique ID for CD #1=%d%d\n”, cd2UID.id[0],.cd2UID.id[1]);

CreateUniqueId( &cdFromDBUID, &cdFromDB );

printf( “Unique ID for CD #2=%d%d\n”, cdFromDBUID.id[0],cdFromDBUID.id[1]);

matchtest=(cd2UID.id[0]==cdFromDBUID.id[0]) &&(cd2UID.id[1]==cdFromDBUID.id[1]);

printf (“The cd's match if result is non zeromatchresult=%d”,matchtest);

printf (“\n”);

printf (“\n”);

1. A system coupled to a network to associate remote data with localdata, where the local data is included in a recording and is accessed toplay the recording for a user of the local device said systemcomprising: an access unit accessing the local data; a processorderiving an identifier by abstracting table of contents information forthe local data; a communication unit automatically obtaining the remotedata from the network upon access to the local data, using at least oneuniform resource locator based on an at least partial pointer obtainedfrom the network and corresponding to the identifier; and an output unitoutputting the remote data.
 2. A system as recited in claim 1, whereinthe recording is an electronic file of digitally encoded audio.
 3. Asystem as recited in claim 2, wherein the electronic file is stored on adisc, wherein said access unit is a disc playback unit, and wherein saidcommunication unit requests the remote data upon insertion of the discinto said playback unit.
 4. A system the local data is an electronicfile of digitally encoded audio, and wherein the remote data include atleast one of an image associated with the local data, animationassociated with the local data, a video associated with the local data,and an album cover associated with the electronic file, said systemcomprising: an access unit accessing the local data; a processorderiving an identifier by abstracting table of contents information forthe local data; a communication unit automatically obtaining the remotedata from the network upon access to the local data, using at least oneuniform resource locator based on an at least partial pointer obtainedfrom the network and corresponding to the identifier; and an output unitoutputting the remote data.
 5. A method using a local computer connectedto a network, comprising: obtaining an identifier of a recordingaccessed by the local computer from an abstraction of contents of therecording the abstraction including table of contents information usedin playing back the recording said obtaining, using a process capable ofhaving multiple recordings approximately matching the identifier andfurther abstraction of the identifier is possible; determining an atleast partial pointer based on the identifier; obtaining via the networkfrom at least one storage location determined using the at least partialpointer remote data related to the recording; and outputting the remotedata on the local computer.
 6. A method of delivering contentcomplementary to a compact disc inserted in a compact disc playercoupled with a computer connected to a network, comprising: insertingthe compact disc in the compact disc player coupled with the computer;obtaining an identifier for the compact disc from table of contentsinformation for the compact disc; retrieving at least one uniformresource locator related to the identifier, including searching a localcache for the identifier; connecting to a remote look-up server tosearch for the identifier and to return an at least partial pointer,when the identifier is not found in the local cache; storing the atleast partial pointer returned from the remote look-up server in thelocal cache; and providing the at least one uniform resource locatorbased on the at least partial pointer, when the identifier is found inthe local cache and when the at least partial pointer is returned fromthe remote look-up server; linking to at least one remote device via thenetwork, in response to the at least one uniform resource locator; anddelivering content complementary to the compact disc from the at leastone remote device to the computer via the network.
 7. A method asrecited in claim 6, wherein a plurality of uniform resource locatorsrelated to the identifier are returned from the remote look-up server,and wherein said linking initially links to a selected remote devicecorresponding to one of the uniform resource locators related to theidentifier.
 8. At least one computer program stored on acomputer-readable medium, embodying a method for delivering contentcomplementary to a compact disc inserted into a compact disc playercoupled with a computer connected to a network, comprising: insertingthe compact disc in the compact disc player coupled with the computer;obtaining an identifier for the compact disc from table of contentsinformation for the compact disc; retrieving at least one uniformresource locator related to the identifier, including searching a localcache for the identifier; connecting to a remote look-up server tosearch for the identifier and to return an at least partial pointer,when the identifier is not found in the local cache; storing the atleast partial pointer returned from the remote look-up server in thelocal cache; and providing the at least one uniform resource locatorbased on the at least partial pointer, when the identifier is found inthe local cache and when the at least partial pointer is returned fromthe remote look-up server; linking to at least one remote device via thenetwork, in response to the at least one uniform resource locator; anddelivering content complementary to the compact disc from the at leastone remote device to the computer via the network.
 9. At least onecomputer program as recited in claim 8, wherein a plurality of uniformresource locators related to the identifier are returned from the remotelook-up server, and wherein said linking initially links to a selectedremote device corresponding to one of the uniform resource locatorsrelated to the identifier.
 10. At least one computer program stored on acomputer-readable medium, embodying a method for delivering contentcomplementary to a compact disc inserted into a compact disc playercoupled with a computer connected to a network, comprising: insertingthe compact disc in the compact disc player coupled with the computer;obtaining an identifier for the compact disc from table of contentsinformation for the compact disc; determining at least one uniformresource locator related to the identifier; linking to at least oneremote device using the at least one uniform resource locator via thenetwork using the identifier as a password to access the at least oneremote site; and delivering content complementary to the compact discfrom the at least one remote device to the computer via the network. 11.At least one computer program as recited in claim 10, wherein saiddelivering delivers the content including at least one name of a song onthe compact disc.
 12. At least one computer program as recited in claims10, wherein the compact disc contains a plurality of tracks, and whereinsaid delivering delivers the content including at least one title of acorresponding track on the compact disc.
 13. A method of deliveringcontent complementary to a compact disc inserted in a compact discplayer coupled with a computer connected to a network, comprising:receiving the compact disc in the compact disc player coupled with thecomputer; obtaining an identifier for the compact disc from table ofcontents information for the compact disc; retrieving from a remotecomputer via the network an at least partial pointer related to theidentifier; linking to a remote device via the network using the atleast partial pointer; and delivering content complementary to thecompact disc from the remote device to the computer via the network. 14.A computer system, coupled to a network, to associate remote data andaudio, comprising: a playback unit, located at a first location, to playa recording using information provided with the recording; acommunication unit, located at the first location, to obtain remote datafrom the network using an at least partial pointer corresponding to therecording; an output unit, located at the first location, to output theremote data; and a remote computer, coupled to said communication unitvia the network and located at a second location remote from the firstlocation, storing at least one database of recording identifiers derivedfrom the information used to play the recordings, and at least partialpointers and providing said communication unit with the at least partialpointer.
 15. A computer system as recited in claim 14, wherein the atleast one database stored on said remote computer associates therecording identifiers with at least partial pointers of correspondingWorld Wide Web pages for a plurality of recordings released by anorganization.
 16. A computer system, as recited in claim 14, wherein theat least partial pointer is at least one uniform resource locator of atleast one World Wide Web page maintained on behalf of at least oneperson who produced sound for the recording.
 17. At least one computerprogram stored on a computer-readable medium, embodying a method fordelivering content complementary to a compact disc inserted into acompact disc player coupled with a local computer connected to anetwork, comprising: detecting insertion of the compact disc in thecompact disc player coupled with the local computer; obtaining anidentifier for the compact disc from table of contents information forthe compact disc; retrieving from a remote computer via the network anat least partial pointer corresponding to the identifier; linking to aremote device via the network, based on the at least partial pointer;and delivering content complementary to the compact disc from the remotedevice to the local computer via the network.
 18. At least one computerprogram as recited in claim 17, further comprising automatically sendinginformation, stored on the compact disc to play back the compact disc,from the local computer to the remote computer, and wherein saidobtaining is performed by the remote computer from the informationreceived from the local computer.
 19. At least one computer program asrecited in claim 17, wherein said obtaining includes generating theidentifier by the local computer based on information stored on thecompact disc to play back the compact disc, and wherein said methodfurther comprises automatically sending the identifier from the localcomputer to the remote computer.
 20. At least one computer program asrecited in claim 17, further comprising automatically starting a clientprogram within the computer to cause the computer to access the networkwhen the compact disc is inserted in the compact disc player.
 21. Atleast one computer program as recited in claim 17, wherein saidobtaining is performed automatically upon insertion of the compact disc,wherein said retrieving of the at least partial pointer automaticallyretrieves a plurality of character strings at least partially defininguniform resource locators related to the identifier upon determinationof the identifier for the compact disc, and wherein said linkingautomatically links the computer to a selected remote devicecorresponding to one of the uniform resource locators.
 22. At least onecomputer program stored on a computer-readable medium, embodying amethod for delivering content complementary to a compact disc insertedinto a compact disc player coupled with a computer connected to anetwork, comprising: inserting the compact disc in the compact discplayer coupled with the computer; obtaining an identifier for thecompact disc from table of contents information for the compact disc;retrieving an at least partial pointer corresponding to the identifier,including searching a local cache for the identifier; connecting to aremote look-up server to search for the identifier and return at leastone character string related thereto, when the identifier is not foundin the local cache within a predetermined period of time; storing the atleast one character string returned from the remote look-up server inthe local cache; and providing the at least one character string as theat least partial pointer, when the identifier is found in the localcache and when the at least one character string is returned from theremote look-up server; linking to a remote device via the network, basedon the at least partial pointer; and delivering content complementary tothe compact disc from the remote device to the computer via the network.23. At least one computer program as recited in claim 22, furthercomprising automatically sending information, stored on the compact discto play back the compact disc, from the computer to the remote look-upserver, and wherein said obtaining is performed by the remote look-upserver from the information received from the computer.
 24. At least onecomputer program as recited in claim 22, wherein said obtaining includesgenerating the identifier by the computer based on information stored onthe compact disc to play back the compact disc, and wherein said methodfurther comprises automatically sending the identifier from the computerto the remote look-up server.
 25. At least one computer program asrecited in claim 22, wherein a plurality of uniform resource locatorsrelated to the identifier are returned from the remote look-up server,and wherein said linking initially links to a selected remote devicecorresponding to one of the uniform resource locators related to theidentifier.
 26. A method of delivering content complementary to arecording ready for playback by a local device connected to a network,comprising: obtaining an identifier for the recording from informationprovided with the recording to play back the recording; retrieving froma remote device via the network an at least partial pointercorresponding to the identifier; linking to the remote device via thenetwork, based on the at least partial pointer; and delivering contentcomplementary to the recording from the remote device to the localdevice via the network.
 27. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein thelocal device is a computer connected to the remote device via thenetwork, and wherein said method further comprises: detecting access tothe recording by the computer; and automatically starting a clientprogram within the computer to control the computer when the recordingis accessed.
 28. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein saidretrieving of the at least partial pointer includes searching a localcache for the identifier; connecting to a remote look-up server tosearch for the identifier and return at least one pointer string relatedthereto, when the identifier is not found in the local cache within apredetermined period of time; storing the at least pointer stringreturned from the remote look-up server in the local cache; andproviding the at least one pointer string as the at least partialpointer for said linking, when the identifier is found in the localcache and when the at least one pointer string is returned from theremote look-up server.
 29. A method as recited in claim 28, wherein aplurality of pointer strings related to the identifier are returned fromthe remote look-up server, and wherein said linking initially links to aselected remote device at least partially addressed by one of thepointer strings.
 30. A method as recited in claim 26, wherein saidretrieving of the at least partial pointer related to the identifierretrieves a plurality of pointer strings at least partially defininguniform resource locators related to the identifier, and wherein saidlinking initially links to a selected remote device corresponding to oneof the uniform resource locators related to the identifier.
 31. At leastone computer program stored on a computer-readable medium, embodying amethod for delivering content complementary to a recording ready forplayback by a local device connected to a network, comprising: obtainingan identifier for the recording from information provided with therecording to play back the recording; retrieving from a remote devicevia the network an at least partial pointer corresponding to theidentifier; linking to a remote device via the network based on the atleast partial pointer; and delivering content complementary to therecording from the remote device to the local device via the network.32. At least one computer program as recited in claim 31, wherein thelocal device is a computer connected to the remote device via thenetwork, and further comprising: detecting access to the recording bythe computer; and automatically starting a client program within thecomputer to control the computer when the recording is accessed.
 33. Atleast one computer program as recited in claim 31, wherein saidretrieving of the at least partial pointer includes generating theidentifier by the local device based on information provided with therecording for playback of the recording; searching the local cache forthe identifier; connecting to a remote look-up server to search for theidentifier and return at least one pointer string at least partiallydefining a uniform resource locator related thereto, when the identifieris not found in the local cache within a predetermined period of time;storing the at least one pointer string returned from the remote look-upserver in the local cache; and providing the at least one pointer stringas the at least partial pointer for said linking, when the identifier isfound in the local cache and when the at least one pointer string isreturned from the remote look-up server.
 34. At least one computerprogram as recited in claim 33, wherein a plurality of pointer stringsrelated to the identifier are returned from the remote look-up server,and wherein said linking initially links to a selected remote device atleast partially addressed by one of the pointer strings.
 35. At leastone computer program as recited in claim 31, wherein said retrieving ofthe at least partial pointer corresponding to the identifier retrieves aplurality of pointer strings at least partially defining uniformresource locators related to the identifier, and wherein said linkinginitially links to a selected remote device at least partially addressedby one of the pointer strings.
 36. At least one computer program asrecited in claim 31, further comprising: sending information, providedwith the recording to play back the recording, from the local device tothe remote device; determining the identifier by the remote device basedon the information received from the local device; and comparing theidentifier with records in a database maintained on the remote device tofind the at least partial pointer corresponding to the identifier. 37.At least one computer program as recited in claim 31, wherein thecontent complementary to the recording includes at least one of an imageassociated with the recording, animation associated with the recording,and a video associated with the recording.
 38. At least one computerprogram as recited in claim 37, wherein the recording is an electronicfile of digital audio, and wherein the content complementary to therecording further includes an album cover associated with the electronicfile.